A few days ago, a poem with the word “nothing” (“How much the present moment means”) led me to an article with an interesting take on both the poem and Dickinson’s spiritual beliefs. However, when time came to post info about the poem and the article, I’d lost the link. Oops!
While I was looking for it, I stumbled upon another article entitled “Emily Dickinson’s Joke about Death.” Well, that sounded intriguing, so I made mention in a post that I would revisit that article.
Yesterday, I circled back to the article at JSTOR.org. JSTOR stands for “Journal Storage,” and it’s a digital library that provides access to academic journals, books, and primary sources.
Are you a believer in Murphy’s Law? LOL – I am. And good ol’ Murph kicked in yesterday when I attempted to access the article. For some reason, JSTOR (at least on my computer) was experiencing some kind of issue, and the article would not open.
Much later in the evening, I was finally able to open the file, but the article was much longer (26 pages), and much more serious than I anticipated. Therefore, I’ll revisit this later, once I’ve had an opportunity to print, read and digest the article.
For now, I”ll add that the article opens with this: “Tension and elasticity. These are Henri Bergson’s words for the mechanism of humor. In his foundational essay ‘Le rire,’ Bergson posits a mutually dependent relationship between ‘tension and elasticity: the mutually complementary forces that life puts in play.’”
That’s always what I thought was the foundation of comedy – tension and elasticity. LOL. I jest.
Three things for now:
1. I found info about Henri Bergson and his essays, HERE.
2. Here’s the real low down about the foundation of comedy (and this should really be done in person – so here’s how it would go down if we were face to face):
Me: “Ask me what is the most important element of comedy?
You: “Say what?”
Me: “Ask…me…’what is the most important element of comedy?’”
You: “Uh…okay. What is the most important –
Me (Interrupting you abruptly): “Timing!”
Is that enough tension and elasticity for you?
3. The opening paragraph to the article is pictured below. I’ll print the full article and take a look-see soon to see what it’s all about.
While I was looking for it, I stumbled upon another article entitled “Emily Dickinson’s Joke about Death.” Well, that sounded intriguing, so I made mention in a post that I would revisit that article.
Yesterday, I circled back to the article at JSTOR.org. JSTOR stands for “Journal Storage,” and it’s a digital library that provides access to academic journals, books, and primary sources.
Are you a believer in Murphy’s Law? LOL – I am. And good ol’ Murph kicked in yesterday when I attempted to access the article. For some reason, JSTOR (at least on my computer) was experiencing some kind of issue, and the article would not open.
Much later in the evening, I was finally able to open the file, but the article was much longer (26 pages), and much more serious than I anticipated. Therefore, I’ll revisit this later, once I’ve had an opportunity to print, read and digest the article.
For now, I”ll add that the article opens with this: “Tension and elasticity. These are Henri Bergson’s words for the mechanism of humor. In his foundational essay ‘Le rire,’ Bergson posits a mutually dependent relationship between ‘tension and elasticity: the mutually complementary forces that life puts in play.’”
That’s always what I thought was the foundation of comedy – tension and elasticity. LOL. I jest.
Three things for now:
1. I found info about Henri Bergson and his essays, HERE.
2. Here’s the real low down about the foundation of comedy (and this should really be done in person – so here’s how it would go down if we were face to face):
Me: “Ask me what is the most important element of comedy?
You: “Say what?”
Me: “Ask…me…’what is the most important element of comedy?’”
You: “Uh…okay. What is the most important –
Me (Interrupting you abruptly): “Timing!”
Is that enough tension and elasticity for you?
3. The opening paragraph to the article is pictured below. I’ll print the full article and take a look-see soon to see what it’s all about.
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